The present invention relates to a sleeve apparatus for applying compressive pressure to a person's arm or leg to facilitate the drainage of lymph fluid. An excessive amount of lymphatic fluid can accumulate in one's limb due to trauma to the lymphatic system, creating a condition called lymphedema. This is often seen, for instance, in the case of post-mastectomy patients who have had the lymph system compromised around the treated area. The result is swelling, discomfort, loss of range of motion and activities of daily living. Additionally, the lymph in the affected limb has a very high protein count and can be a potential breeding area for bacteria if the patient's skin is punctured.
There is no viable surgical or pharmacological intervention available to cure lymphedema. The only effective treatment is called Complete Decongestive Physical Therapy ("CDP"). This treatment protocol involves manual lymph massage, bandaging, exercise and education in self-care. The bandaging is intended to create gradient pressure that is highest at the distal area of the limb and which steadily decreases up the limb towards the body. Because it is a goal to drain the limb of all excessive lymph fluid, it is important in the bandaging process to make sure that pockets in the bandages are avoided so that no pools of trapped lymph can be created along the surface of the person's arm.
Self bandaging is time consuming and difficult for the patient to accomplish on his own. There have been several attempts to manufacture a product as a substitute for, or as an adjunct to, self bandaging. Some sleeves comprise an elastic outer shell which snuggly fits against the limb. However, the lymph engorged limb will stretch the outer fabric of the sleeve, therefore defeating its purpose as an effective source of compression. There also exist certain compression sleeves which comprise an inelastic outer sleeve which constrains the swelling of the limb, thus forcing the lymph to drain from the limb back towards the body. Many of these types of devices are intended to be used in conjunction with bandaging wraps and themselves do not provide padding. Needless to say, these types of sleeves can be quite uncomfortable for the patient. There further exists a compression sleeve which provides internal padding having several raised projections. This padding is of a low density type foam and is designed to apply pressure mainly along the points of the projections. The low density foam used in this sleeve is thick and bulky. When worn, it can inhibit flexion of the limb which can lead to discomfort. Further, with this type of sleeve, pooling of lymph fluid can occur at those points in the interstitial area between the raised projections. Accordingly, while lymph flow may be improved, maximum drainage of lymphatic fluid may be precluded. This type of sleeve is useful for prolonged wear, but is not consistent for use with complete decongestive physical therapy where the goal is maximum lymph drainage.
Therefore, there exists the need for a compression sleeve having padding for patient comfort yet having a construction that will aid in providing complete compression to the limb by gradient pressure for maximum drainage of the lymphatic fluid. There further exists the need to provide a compression sleeve that is light in weight and not bulky.